Month: May 2017

Promises in the Psalms

“And of his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” We have received everything that Christ has, and we are becoming everything that Christ is. We have a long way to go but we press forward. In the Book of Joshua the people of God had to do three things to possess the inheritance given by the Lord: 1) Enter the land, 2) Conquer the land, and 3) Possess the land. This story is a figure of our promised inheritance earned and given by Jesus Christ. Work and effort and battle is involved in entering into Rest. After entering we must conquer. The problem is that we do not conquer all the enemies and so we do not enjoy the entire inheritance. Much more is still available. One half of Joshua details possessing, but failure to possess all the Promised Land generates the problems outlined in the Book of Judges and onward. God had said, ‘Go in and possess the land that I have given you.” The fullness of Christ is given, but it must still be possessed. This daily blog is one small attempt to discover what it means to possess what has been given.

This attempt will be undertaken by examining all the promises in the Psalter. What can we do and how can we apply ourselves to the possession of the entire inheritance? This daunting task requires the teaching of the Holy Spirit for there are so many promises to claim.

The Promises of the Psalms are of three types: 1) Unconditional Promises, which are unconditionally guaranteed by God, which need to be received by faith alone; 2) Conditional Promises, which are “if…then” sentences which will be fulfilled for us when and if the conditions are met. 3) Not completely certain Promises, which are statements of faith by a Psalmist about God, not spoken by God, and we can’t be sure the promise applies to all people of all time. Another type of promise is the Beatitude, that is, “Blessed are” and “Blessings be on” are general and may be conditional or unconditional.

Conditional Promises are usually based on the Law of Moses, particularly keeping the Ten Commandments as a summary. Obedience to the Law is the condition, and if done, the promise is effectual. The conditional promises are not a matter of reward and punishment for obeying or disobeying, but it is matter of consequences. Every thought, word, action or choice has a natural consequence, a good or bad result based on the Law of Moses, which he received from the Lord. Keeping the Moral Law and doing good works will always cause a happy life as the natural effect. Sin against the Law always causes misery and unhappiness in life as the effect. We cannot normally see the relationship between cause and effect. If we could make the connection we would probably make better decisions, although man is so evil and depraved, stupid and ignorant, selfish and self centered that he would still mess up. And further, we cannot stop to ponder and weigh every little choice to determine God’s will in the matter; therefore, God just gives us the Moral Law to know and obey, and just following those principles (10 of them) yields a good life. Don’t ask; just do. It’s very simple; in fact, Adam only had one rule, but he couldn’t keep that. Death was the consequence, not actually a punishment, for Adam’s Fall.

Every good Jew knows the law of consequences and so loves the Torah, for in keeping them there is great reward. Good moral people can have happy lives without believing in God. Christians can create miserable lives for themselves by continuing in sin and disobedience while believing in God. Sadly, most Jews and Muslims, and too many Christians have misinterpreted and misapplied the Law of God and remade it into a reward for good outward behavior and a punishment for bad outward behavior, and then compounded that mistake into making that the criterion for entrance into heaven or hell in the afterlife.

The Moral Law of the Universe, given as a gift from the Creator, is designed to be a guide (which we can see) to consequences (which we can’t see); and it is meant to lead us on the path to a happy, not miserable, life on earth in the here and now. Life after death is based only on what God has done for us: He gave us Jesus and brought us to faith in him. A secondary result of believing that Good News is that He gives the believer the ability to actually live a better life according to the Law, and this truth brings about blessed consequences. The Law is the guide to the good life on earth, and the Gospel is the power to stay on that path. The primary result of faith in Jesus is that the believer has eternal life right now, and eternally after death.

Because of Christ God also forgives all sins and He forgives the sinner resulting in eternal life, now and forever. However, consequences of sin do remain even after forgiveness and restoration, although confessing and forsaking sins can mitigate the consequences somewhat. Most consequences are unseen and that is why the sinner is not motivated to change; motivation comes from the love of Jesus and He is where our vision needs to be focused if we want a better life. When change happens consequences improve and blessing comes.

Conditional promises are nothing more than believing the blessings and curses of being (or not being) careful to do all the commandments. Every person wants promises and blessings and the avoidance of threats and curses, but he isn’t able to be careful to do. These blessings and curses are spelled out as part of the Covenant God makes with His people in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. The covenant promise is sealed in the blood of Christ on the cross. Now He wants to bless us, even more than we want His Blessing; therefore, He sends His Spirit to live in our spirits and to rule our lives so that He can lead us to the pleasant pastures of good consequences based on good behavior.

All of these conditional and unconditional promises are meant for the believer in Jesus given by grace, but the Spirit must guide and lead the believer into the actual reception and experience of the fulfillment after the enemies of sin, death, and the devil have been conquered and driven out, or they will become “thorns in the side” that prevent the full enjoyment of the Land and the Rest.

What are these promises and how do we possess them, according to Psalms? Stay tuned.

After 150 Psalms of prayer, thanks and praise to the Lord the Psalter closes with pure praise, with everyone everywhere using all the gusto, noise and energy they can muster. We have a problem: How do we render to God adequate praise? All Creation, pulling out all the stops, could never in all eternity repay God with enough praise to make it even.

We can never do enough to ever feel like we have paid Him back or earned His mercy. We are forever obligated and in debt the Lord. He has really done it all. Therefore, all we can do is continually praise Him.

Praise makes God big; we can’t make God bigger and better than He already is, but praise can make Him appear bigger to us than we previously imagined. When I see God as bigger than my problems, more faithful than I thought, more merciful than I can believe, more ready to answer my prayer than I am even to ask it, then praise fulfills its purpose: it allows me to see what is already there, a big God. God fills up my space, time, thoughts and plans that there is no room for the enemy. So I praise the Lord!

 

 

 

 

 

Jubilant songs songs and expressions of great joy are a part of the believer’s life of praise to the Lord. Sin, death and devil are the enemies that prevent us from experiencing the joy of the Lord; and even after we have experienced the joy and peace in believing they are taking that joy away and replacing it with sorrow and care and anxiety. Spiritual enemies prevent and rob.

When these enemies are defeated and the Lord is taking pleasure in us the joy of the Lord is restored and the high praises of God are on our lips, feet and hands. This renewing of joy and praise happens every day when we repent of sin and believe the Gospel; then the beneficent reign of God comes back into our lives under which we are loved, cared about, provided for, protected and guided.

We can also rejoice today and go nuts with praise because of anticipated future triumph for His people and because of the future judgment and final confinement of our enemies.

Furthermore, we (the believers, the saints, the godly ones, the meek and humble, the people of God) somehow participate in that judgment and get to see the eternal confinement of the enemies that will bother us no more.

 

 

 

 

 

Everything in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in all the seas is called upon to praise the Lord, the Creator of all; this call to praise is given to animate and inanimate creation, visible and invisible creatures, absolutely everything that exists, except God Himself.

Every created thing does praise God when it fulfills the purpose of its created design. Everything praises when it obeys perfectly and is subject to the King. When every created thing is obedient and in submission then everything works in perfect harmony and order for the good of all. For instance, if any celestial body were to veer off its designed course and go its own way life would be impossible and unpredictable.

Human beings, who rebelled and got out of line, are being called back to God, to submission to God, and to praise of God. They are gently called with cords of love, not with chains of force. They are called by the Gospel, which announces the violent overthrow of all forces, beings, and entities that are opposed to God and the peaceful and orderly running of the universe under the Eternal King. Believers in the Gospel praise God gladly; opposers of gospel will praise unwillingly.

 

 

 

 

 

The power of God is indeed awesome and almighty; God can only be praised when His power is witnessed and experienced. The love of God is amazing and marvelous; God can only be thanked when His love is felt personally. When the Lord combines His power with His love to perform blessings and good things for us it is truly wonderful; thanks and praise is the only response.

The same God who counts the stars and calls them by name is the same God who heals a broken heart, who binds up a wound, and who knows how to put things together again in the human soul better than they were before.

The same God who sends rain and grass and food for the inhabitants of earth knows how lift up the weak and the meek and how to cast down the strong enemies that seek to ruin our lives.

The same God that sends snow and ice and wind also sends His Word and command to secure peace and safety for His people.

To know the true God who uses His awesome power and His relentless love for our temporal and eternal benefit is a remarkable blessing.

 

 

 

 

Even though most believers basically know and fundamentally profess that trust in God alone is the only way, it is tempting to look for help to the things we can see before turning to God whom we cannot see. When we need help we tend to turn to the Lord last instead of first.

God will use humans in most instances as the instruments through which He brings the help we need, and when we see the providential hand of God behind the human help we will believe Him first and trust Him more. “While I live will I Praise the Lord.”

God helps, saves, rescues, restores and gives life and hope to the weak, the vulnerable and the helpless. Look at the list: oppressed, hungry, prisoners, blind, bowed down, righteous, strangers, fatherless and widow. The “righteous” are included in that list because they have accepted the risk of dependence. They put their trust on God alone and have given up on their own strength and invincibility, their own self-righteous understanding, and their own independent do-it-myself spirit.

Only God can make us righteous, and God loves the righteous. And God helps the helpless, the best position from which to pray.

 

 

 

 

God is so great and so good it takes all of space and time to praise Him; every living creature needs all of eternity to give God adequate praise. God’s kingdom is not even actually in space or time; His reign is universal and eternal, infinite and unlimited.

When and where the rule of God is unchallenged and there is no rebellion anywhere, then and there the subjects who willingly submit are extremely well taken care of, abundantly provided for, and securely protected. Every sin is a challenge to God’s authority and causes a breakdown in His care, provision and protection. Every praise is a strengthening of God’s authority, which brings about the greater wellbeing of His subjects.

God’s kingdom rule comes into our hearts and lives when the Gospel is proclaimed and believed. His rule is strengthened when we pray, praise and give thanks, and when His authority is strengthened blessings and good things are poured out abundantly like Holy Spirit rain. He fulfills our desires and hears our prayers. He preserves and saves those who respond to His compassion and mercy, grace and kindness, His willing subjects; but the wicked who do not respond to His love will be destroyed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. Yahweh is our God; He is the God of His people. His people worship Him, praise Him, and trust in Him. When they do they will experience victory and prosperity.

As long as enemies threaten our lives and families and property there can be no peace, and without peace there can be no prosperity. So it is spiritually: we make Jesus Christ our God and Lord every day by repentance and faith; we confess our sins; we confess our sins are forgiven; we confess Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

This Lord, this Yahweh, this Jesus, teaches us to war, takes notice of us, shows up in our life, gives victory over sin, death and devil, grants health and prosperity to our family and property and business. God grants it all: my response is only to thank and praise, to serve and obey Him.

The logic is simple: Jesus is my Lord; the Lord Jesus is my God; blessed am I. Focus on Him, praise Him, trust Him, not the blessings, for they follow.

 

 

 

There is no help and no hope for any man or woman from any source or under any condition; there is only one place to turn for help and hope, and that is to God. God must be merciful because there is no place else to turn. God will be merciful and hear our prayer and save us because he made a covenant promise, and He is faithful to do what he said.

I may feel like I am in or near death, but the Lord will deliver me; I may feel overwhelmed by spiritual enemies, but the Lord will destroy them; I may feel like I am in despair with no visible hope, but the Lord will lift me up out of trouble.

The Lord’s commitment to the covenant is the only basis of the appeal for aid. And the only way the covenant can be sustained is by the continual forgiveness from God. The Lord must be, and He will be, true to His Word and promise in the covenant for His name’s sake and His righteousness’ sake. If the OT believer could be certain of this, so much more can the NT believer hope in God.

 

 

 

 

The Levites were not given any allotment of land , as all the other tribes of Israel were given a heritage of land by which they could support themselves. For the Levites the Lord was their “portion.” God Himself was their life support system by which they would sustain themselves. “The Lord is my portion” came to be a statement of faith for every believer whether he had land or not, for it was the Lord who sustained him through the land anyway.

When in the course of our pilgrimage we find ourselves on a sickbed or a deathbed, in prison or in distress, or all alone and no one cares, then the Lord is my refuge and my portion. I trust God alone to keep me safe and keep me alive.

if God uses land, livelihood, and other people to keep me safe and alive He is still my refuge and portion. If I feel deserted and stressed out with no tangible support then I believe the same truth: the Lord is my refuge and portion in the land of the living.

In the presence of enemies I cry to the Lord; He will deal bountifully with me. That’s a promise.